Busi Goes Blue (or How to be a Blue Mage in Eorzea)
by Born of Prayers
Summary: What can the magic of blue do for you? Well, for Cocobusi it offered a chance to become a mage like he'd always wanted. Even if it wasn't the same magic that his brothers could use, it was still worth a shot… right?
1. Martyn's Guide to Blue Magic

_So, you've gone and picked up the Soul of the Blue Mage and Martyn's Guide to Blue Magic, have you? _

_Congratulations, you're now one of the few and proud members of this new school of magic. You had the bravery to step onto this path and will be rewarded with great power in the end. But before you can call forth and wield the might and magicks of the beasts roaming around Eorzea, you must know what makes this form of magic special, and what it can do for you that the other modern schools of magic can't._

_Blue Magic__ itself is a form of magic that comes from my research into the mystic arts of the __Whalaquee__, inhabitants of the New World who managed to create a form of spellcasting based off the wild creatures that prowl the plains and forests. Over centuries of facing off against the creatures as they brought their magicks to bear in self-defense, they gained the ability to make it their own. I was fortunate enough to have learned from the best of them and will now pass on these teachings to you through this book._

_Now, surely you must think that such it requires an immense amount of training and massive inner reserves of aetheric energy in order to use such spells? _

_Well that's where you're wrong, my apprentice. While most modern schools of magic might demand such a thing, blue magic stems from a different principle. You might still need a little aether of your own to start up the spells, but by drawing in aether from the immediate surroundings, you can use spells even greater than one could imagine. _

_Now I'm sure that to some that might seem like the white or black magic of old, but the similarities end there. These near-extinct (and forbidden) magicks rely on connecting oneself to the world's aetherial current, but blue magic simply borrows ambient aether from the local environment in the same manner that the beasts do and returns it once the spell has done its work. It's not unlike Conjury taught in the Twelveswood and that's not illegal, is it?_

_Best of all, since you aren't using your inner aetheric reserves to form the spells, you don't have to worry about the complex relationship of aetheric balancing and efficiency like they teach in the Ossuary in Ul'dah. If you want to cast fire spells all day you can do so with no risk of burning yourself inside-out from over-aspecting or anything else._

_So now that you know the skies are the limit for blue magic, you'll surely be wondering how to __learn__ the spells that you'll be adding to your arsenal. Will you need to study from countless theurgical tomes and recite ancient incantations? Spend hours meditating and begging the elementals to let you borrow their power? Memorize complicated arcane patterns and geometries to shape the spells? _

_Of course not! Part of what makes blue magic wonderful is that it's the simplest form of magic to use since you don't need to do anything like that. All you need is one of my specialized focuses and a brand-new soul crystal._

_As you might know, soul crystals are designed to store an echo of the user's memories and allow future holders to learn from them. Well, thanks to my time in studying the arcanum, I've created a rune that allows for the soul crystal to formulate the memories of various creatures into spells instead. While not all of the local wildlife possesses the necessary aetherial composition to be engraved properly into it, you'll find a list of those that can and their habitats in the pages of this spellbook._

_As for actually learning the spells, you need to be either the target of the ability being used or close to it with the soul crystal present. _

_The mere threat of combat increases the flow of aetheric energies flowing throughout the beast's inner channels and thus the instinctual patterns that it uses to weave the magic will permeate it to a certain degree. Then, once you vanquish the beast, that aether will be dispersed and you'll absorb some of it into yourself by proximity. If that aether has the residual pattern within it, it'll be stored and transcribed in the crystal as a spell for you to use._

_Simple right?_

_Well, casting the spell is __even simpler__. You just need to attune yourself to the instincts of the beast and the crystal will formulate the spell from the stored knowledge, allowing you to use aether in a similar manner to the beast. That's all it takes._

_You don't need to meditate on raising the potency of the elements to shape the spell like Conjurers do with their unworked wands and canes. _

_You don't need to use speak a string of hard to remember words in the heat of battle and worry about ending up in a grave from biting your tongue like Thaumaturges. _

_You don't even have to lug around a heavy book filled with complicated scribblings, written in enchanted ink and tipped with an expensive gemstone, and worry about the little creatures you call forth getting distracted while you're in the middle of pitched combat like many Arcanists do._

_So now that you know what __blue can do for you__, it's time to start your acquisition of spells until you swell with the power to rival even the greatest of spellcasters._

_Go forth and make your mark upon the world as a __Blue Mage__._

_Sincerely,_

_Martyn_

**[-BGB-]**

Peering down at the pages of the book from his room at the Mizzenmast Inn of Limsa Lominsa, Cocobusi found himself intrigued by the prospect of this new form of magic. So much so that his legs swung back and forth while he sat on the edge of the chair, his linen robes rustling in excitement. The discovery had been more than he expected when he joined the caravan to come to the seaside city-state. There had been a request for a member of the Alchemist Guild in the crafting of a grimoire and he had volunteered for a number of reasons.

The first was because he wanted to have a chance to learn of this city-state's most common form of spellcasting, done through tomes and ink laced with pigments of metals that were conductors of aether. That made it much easier using gemstones and geometries, the two things that defined their school of magic. Unfortunately, since it relied on one's inherent anima, practicing it held the same risk as with his brothers' magic.

Then he had come for supplies to work on improving his potion, since the materials he needed weren't easily procured in Ul'dah. The prices for getting them imported was far too expensive on his current budget. Especially since he had just saved up enough to purchase a Mythril Mortar, which he hoped would help him push past his current progress with the addition of a crafting materia.

It was by chance that he had come across the Blue Mage. After witnessing his demonstration and hearing his explanation, the alchemist couldn't help but be drawn in by the opportunity it presented. Even though it cost him all the gil he'd saved towards getting his new mortar, he couldn't pass up the chance to finally use magic.

Though his brothers had assured him that they appreciated what he could do as an alchemist, the desire to weave spells still thrummed in his very core. But his conundrum was that he lacked the excess reserves of anima needed to use the same arcane arts as his brothers, a quirk of fate that was cruel in itself. In Blue Magic, however, he saw a fortuitous chance to challenge that fate itself.

The aether from living beings flowed out and tended to return to the other realm upon death, but the more violent and sudden the death, the more frantic the process. And one's own aether could be stained by it, though the effects were so miniscule that it would be unnoticed given that one's inner reserves were often greater—a soluble within a solvent. But if the Soul Crystal could capture the essence that was diluted in oneself as the body absorbed it and somehow reconstruct it when the caster attuned themselves to it…

It was possible for it to work. And if the majority of the aether was drawn from the surroundings rather than one's anima, the costs of using the spells themselves would be lower. Low enough to where he could perhaps use a spell without the risk it would pose to his life.

Then, one day, maybe he could even stand alongside his siblings.

Flipping through the pages to see the potential spells he could learn, he noticed how they were ranked based on a star-system from easiest to obtain to hardest, including some theoretical ones like the primals. There were a few beasts he could go after while he was in the region, so he marked the first of his prey. Then he turned back to his tools, since he had just enough materials on-hand to make some things useful enough to see the job done.

By this time tomorrow, he would have his first spell.


	2. Spell 1: Blood Drain

_Two of the more commonly found creatures lurking the lands are the beastkin classified as Bats and vilekin known as Chigoe. They subsist on the lifeblood of others, taking in both nutrients and aether at once to fuel themselves. And as a Blue Mage, you can do the same with the spell: __Blood Drain._

_Contrary to its name, the caster doesn't actually drain blood in the same manner as these species would do to those they prey upon. Instead, the spell simply rips the very aether from their bodies, contracting the aetheric channels to strangle the life from them in the process of depositing it right into your own inner reserves. No superstitious, vampiric urge to drink blood while frothing at the mouth involved._

_Best of all, because it doesn't rely on blood itself, it works on anything that possesses aether—making this rendition superior to the original._

_The Whalaqee themselves ensure that all who use blue magic are capable of using this spell as both a means of weakening their quarry and keeping themselves able to cast their magic. Therefore, it should be a priority for you to do the same. As such I've catalogued the different species that one can learn this spell from in Eorzea and their locations as follows… _

**[-BGB-]**

The Blind Iron Mines were surprisingly well-lit as Cocobusi ventured into the cavern past the checkpoint leading from Middle La Noscea.

Getting past the checkpoint had presented a minor setback as the guards were a little wary of some of the items he had, as typically they were only in possession of adventurers. But he managed to get through by presenting his Alchemist's Guild membership. All the same, he made a note to register with the Adventurer's Guild before he went back home if his efforts today proved successful—if only to move about easier in the future.

Even so, reservation riddled the readied yet reserved blue mage as he finished going over the pages for the Blood Drain spell for a fifth time. The concept of the spell was simple enough to understand. It was meant to take aether from the foe and use it to fill the wellspring that was your own.

In a way it was similar to the _Drain_ spell that his brothers taught to promising thaumaturges, stealing the very life of the foe and using it to mend physical wounds. He had also heard of an even more refined version used by Arcanists that combined both the aspects of taking the life and aether of the enemy. But, while Blood Drain was less refined than either of them, it was more or less the perfect spell for Cocobusi to acquire first…

At least if not for the unpleasantness associated with it when he remembered his brothers' tale of what transpired with Mormo. He couldn't recall what had happened after he opened the lid to the vessel that kept her bound, but he knew that the voidsent had committed many a mage to death. So great was her hunger for aether that she ripped it from their bodies in an effort to reconstitute her own until her physical form was obliterated entirely.

It was an unpleasant thought to know that he'd be willingly using a similar technique to fuel his ambitions once more. But he had no intention of becoming a monster like she had been. He only sought to wield blue magic for the sake of fixing the cruel quirk of fate that had befallen him and standing alongside his brothers—nothing more.

Of course, before he could ponder the potentially perilous path presented by the spell, he had to actually wrest it from the corpse of a Cave Bat.

It was a mostly passive beast from what he could gather. But that didn't mean that he was confident that he could still best it alone, given his inexperience with this sort of thing. That was why he was in the middle of preparing a trap to tip the scales in his favor.

He poured the remaining contents of a still-warm bottle of Beastkin Blood he had bought with him onto a slab of Mutton Loin before he took shelter out of sight, clutching his cane with clammy hands and waiting for one to be drawn in by the scent. A Cave Bat eventually swooped in and lapped at the blood that had been spilled over it, sampling it and feeling the warmth of the meat that still lingered. He waited until the moment it bit down into the meat, fangs pressing deep until fluids came bubbling out and down its maw.

Then Cocobusi rushed in with a shout to psyche himself up. The Cave Bat broke from its meal at the sudden startle, glowing white eyes catching the motion of the cane as it was swung. Its wings carried it out of the reach of the initial, clumsy attempt. Then they abruptly started spasming and twitching, throwing its flight off before it could do anything else.

Just the results he expected when he laced the blood with a bottle of Weak Paralyzing Potion.

The Jellyfish Humors and Cnida all came from this region and were easy enough to procure, while he had the Quicksilver and the shards himself to use in crafting it. The blood didn't congeal, masking the potion well enough to fool it into taking a bite. Cocobusi was sure the effects had been diluted, but it should be effective enough to hamper the Cave Bat's fine motor control and stop it flying away for at least a few moments.

He took a second swing, using the cane like a bludgeon to thwack it with a meaty thump. But the Cave Bat was surprisingly resilient, given that after it whirled in the air for a moment it managed to correct its flight. Then it turned aggressive, chittering and fluttering around his subsequent attempts at hitting it again before swooping in and biting down on his arm.

The sting of the fangs piercing his new outfit and flesh, ripping into the arteries and capillaries beneath it, was something he could tolerate. What he couldn't was the sensation that followed afterwards. There was a tug, an irresistible pull as it drew from both his circulatory and aetheric channels at once— it was using Blood Drain on him.

"Get off! Get off! Get off!" He slammed the cane into the Cave Bat over and over until he managed to knock it loose, widening the wound that stained the white and blue garments with a spot of crimson.

The Cave Bat screeched menacingly as its fangs that had been dyed with blood were revealed. The taste of sweet nourishment to be found within his flesh was too great a lure for it to flee now. It dove straight for his neck this time and ended up just short when Cocobusi brought his wounded arm up to protect his neck, catching him between his neck and shoulder to sup on his blood once more.

Whacking it with the cane did nothing to deter it as the Cave Bat threatened to suck his aetheric and cardiovascular channels dry, stirred into a frenzy of pain and hunger. If left alone, the Lalafell would soon be a withered husk stumbled upon by some adventurer or miner. Desperate, he dropped his stick reached into his pouch until his fingers found a wide-bodied bottle. He brought the cork to his mouth, popped it off, and then dumped the contents over the bat and the wound alike.

The moment the deep, inky fluid splashed down he felt the stinging sensation of the cnidas that were woven into the Weak Poison Potion piercing down as it took root in them both. The bloodthirsty beastkin's devouring of his aether was stopped short as its muscles locked into place from the remnants of the paralysis. It gave him a chance to pull it free even as he felt his own arm suffering from the sensation of internal bleeding from the viper's venom.

Cocobusi then hastily reached for an antidote, a slimmer-bodied bottle that he knew to be somewhere in there. Any good alchemist carried a bottle meant to counteract the potations they made on principle, a safety measure to avoid any unfortunate accidents in the workplace. In this case, he had just the one bottle and hastily guzzled it down before he chugged a Potion as well to quell the burning pain from the wound and staunch the flow of blood.

Afterwards, he scrabbled over the ground for his cane and used it to prop himself up before looking over to the Cave Bat. It was twitching on the ground, spitting out a mix of both its own blood and that it stole. The poison was working for now but, given enough time, its body would fight off the afflictions and become resistant to them. So, to be safe, Cocobusi doused it with another set of maleficent potions.

Then he watched as the two sets of baleful fluids ravaged its tiny form inside and out until the light of its eyes went out as it succumbed.

The alchemist breathed out a sigh of relief that he managed to kill it on his own. Sure, it wasn't a glamourous way to end a battle. But it was no different than the teachings his brothers preached as Thaumaturges—strike when they couldn't fight back and from a distance—so he'd like to believe they would be proud of him for that.

The fact that his soul crystal quivered and pulsed only served to reinforce that thought.

The violent, painful death that his cruel concoctions wrought had released the aether from its body when it was at an apex due to the nature of the battle. That aether resonated with his own as it flowed into him, an almost tangible sensation that left him feeling tingly, and the crystal had caught that... hopefully.

He still needed to test it on a living subject, but he had already used up two of the three bane potations that he made with the materials he had on hand. They were so unstable that he didn't trust them to help him last long enough against another Cave Bat, and he couldn't use Teleport due to his low levels of anima, which was why he took a ferry to get to Limsa in the first place—meaning he couldn't get back if he got too hurt to walk.

So, he decided to retreat from the mines while he was still able to with the tainted mutton and made it back to Zephyr Drift around evening, as the sun was starting to set over the water. There were only largely passive beasts within the region, as the more aggressive or dangerous ones were often culled before they got closer to large cities. The perfect kind to practice casting his first spell on.

In this case, a Wharf Rat that had decided to try to eat the mutton that he'd left out as bait. The rodent was large, with a pair of teeth that tore into the meat eagerly to taste whether it was edible or not. Satisfied, it prepared to abscond with the morsel only for its muscles to begin to twitch violently as the last of the paralysis potion that he'd doused it with took hold.

It bought him time to try and cast the spell as he came out of hiding and focused on the rat.

The book said he needed to attune himself to the mind of the beasts to use their spells. That he had to resonate with it. Grasping at the soul crystal, he closed his eyes and tried to envision what would resonate with the aetherial traces within him. What drove the Cave Bat to use Blood Drain on a primitive level?

_HUNGER._

That thought bubbled up from the recesses of his mind with suspicious ease, almost enticingly so. He could just envision that it was _STARVING_, wracked by a desire for nourishment that could only be found in the warm, flowing life blood. Yes, an _INSATIABLE _need that hollowed out its stomach and gnawed at it from the inside out. It had to...

The crystal pulsated within his grasp as he concentrated on that feeling. That primal _YEARNING_, to gorge itself until it was full on the abundance of aether from whatever source it could. The _CRAVING_ could only be quelled by supping on the essence of another and quench the gnawing void within. A _FERVENT _desire that only grew as pain and hostility left it with a desperate need for succor, to mend the wound and numb the pain.

He lacked the yearning for nourishment that it may have possessed, but there was a fervent desire that he could tie into it akin to an insatiable hunger. That instinctive, desperate urgency to fill in the void and match his brother's arcane might. The only way to satisfy that desire was for him to... for him to...

_TAKE IT!_

His eyes shot open as he felt the aetheric reserves within him stir. A pinch of the little anima he possessed gave form to the azure crystals that spun around him, drawing in the ambient aether that had settled in the surrounding plants. The traces were formulated and gave rise to a spell to take its aether for his own.

The Wharf Rat's twitching body abruptly jerked as motes of warmth-less light bundled together into orbs that burst from its body. The raw and distilled aetheric energy flew towards into Cocobusi's compact frame, slipping past his clothes and flesh to take root in deeper inside. The concentration was so potent that he could feel as it ran through his own aetheric channels once the prisms faded and the spell came to an end.

"_I... I did it_." Looking down at his own hands that trembled, he found himself overcome with excitement and ended up jumping for joy. "I'm a mage now!"

Even if it wasn't the arcane flames, crackling thunder, or frigid ice that his brothers could bring to bear, it was still a form of aetheric manipulation. It was still magic. He had surpassed the limitation that fate had put upon him and defied it to cast magic where he hadn't been able to before.

His excitement was only cut short by the menacing squeaking of the Wharf Rat as it rose back up to its feet. Turning aggressive at the attack, it charged towards him with jagged teeth bared and ready to gnaw away at him, only to be knocked away as the fledgling mage hastily swung his cane around to before it could take a bite. It hit the ground with a _thump_ and then stalled as paralyzing potion had yet to be purged entirely from its system.

Cocobusi reached out for that hunger and desire again while he had the chance to cast. He had to prove that it wasn't just a fluke, a desire that only served to formulate the spell as the blue prisms circled him and drew in aether from the surroundings once more. It only took two seconds before the aether was properly shaped and the spell was cast.

The Wharf Rat's death throe was audible as the pull of the spell violently collapsed the rodent's aetheric channels. The magic ripped every last drop from its corpse, death offering up even that which had accumulated within it. The surge was so great that he felt as though his own channels were being pressed from the inside out and threatened to expand.

"I can't wait to show my brothers..." He said giddily before trailing off after considering his progress to theirs. Even if he could use one spell, it still might not be enough to convince them otherwise that he should be like them. And they might have some reservations about using the same kind of magic as the lying voidsent that had possessed him for a time. "On second thought, maybe II should wait until I get a few more spells?"

Now that he knew for a fact that it worked, he could go out and seek the monsters he could learn spells from to build his repertoire. But, considering everything that happened, he would maybe start small and plan things out a little. He'd pay a visit to the Adventurer's Guild come morning to see if he could gain any advice.


	3. Spell 2: Sticky Tongue

_The environs of Eorzea lends itself well to a number of different beasts, many of whom have adapted to their local biome. One of the more common species you'll find are those of the __Gigantoad__ genius, which are, as the name implies, large amphibians typically characterized by their ability to make great strides through leaping, their propensity to secrete fluids through glands on their leathery skin, and their extremely long and unusually adhesive tongues that can be used to snatch prey from afar._

_The latter ability is what you will be attempting to reproduce through a single spell: __Sticky Tongue._

_Blue Mages can __utilize a far more sanitary aetherial "tongue" once attuned to the wavekin's instincts, constructing an adhesive and malleable fluid that will reach out and grab the target before snapping back and bringing them to you. It may not be elegant, but utility of the spell isn't to be understated._

_However, let it be known that while it can be learned by several different species all over Eorzea, the chances of obtaining it are slim due to the nature of the spell. But if you fancy giving it a shot, you can learn it from the following species of the genius…_

**[-BGB-]**

Cocobusi nearly stumbled on a rock cropping out of the ground as he read the passage on the Sticky Tongue spell while following behind the two nearby Yellowjackets on their way to a stream in Lower La Noscea.

He had gone to the Adventurer's Guild to register and was scantily finished when a Yellowjacket came about requesting help to deal with an impending surge of Cane Toads, an invasive species that was imported to deal with the vilekin swarms. But their numbers grew out of control as they had no natural predators and required culling from time to time. From what he could gather it happened frequently throughout the season, due to them having eggs similar to the local Rivertoad population—which they couldn't exactly eliminate due to them serving as a vital part of the ecosystem.

There weren't many volunteers to help in the Adventurer's guild. Especially when the reward was really a pittance of gil with a bonus for every of Cane Toad killed. There was nothing glamorous about it, and even the Yellowjacket didn't seem too enthusiastic.

Their party consisted of the two Yellowjackets, himself, and another Lalafell that had strawberry blonde hair and was dressed in somewhat worn and ragged clothing, likely made of hempen. He believed that she was a novice Arcanist, judging by how she was cradling a rather weathered-looking grimoire to her chest.

When they arrived on the bank overlooking the stream, Cocobusi put away the book and stood before the Miqo'te Yellowjacket as she gave them the details of the assignment.

"Listen up," she said. "We're only here to deal with the Cane Toads, so don't go attackin' the bigger ones. I've seen 'em flatten grown Roegadyn in a single leap, an' I don't feel like tellin' Old Baderon a couple of whelps got themselves turned into chum chasin' after enough coin in their daddles for a pint."

"Does that happen often?" Cocobusi asked, brows raised.

The other Yellowjacket, a Midlander, gave a barking laugh. "The big ones are lazy as they are dumb. Ye can walk right by 'em without so much as a glance. Just don't go misfirin' yer spells an' don't be so keen as to pick a fight with more than one of the small buggers at a time. They can still smash in yer skull but good. If ye've got one o' 'em beasites, best use it before ye start castin'."

Cocobusi watched as the Arcanist took that as cue to flip open her grimoire and pull out her quill, beginning the process of conjuring the arcane entity that was a Carbuncle.

He had prepared grimoires before, so he understood the principles behind how it worked. The ink, laced with aether-conductive materials that allowed for easier absorption and transmittance, was drawn into specific shapes and geometries that formed blueprints that shaped their spells. The conductivity of the ink made the tome essential for casting as an Arcanist, as without it they'd have difficulty using even basic spells—even if they memorized the patterns in their minds.

But for the entities known as Carbuncles it was more complex, as explained by the acting headmistress when he delivered the requested grimoire to her. Comparing the headmistress' demonstration to the Lalafell as she wrote into the page of the grimoire, the difference was as clear as night and day. Whereas the former had a relaxed expression, the visage of the one in front of him was strained to the point of sweat coming off her brow while visible pockets of aether being shaped by the formula on the pages circled her.

Likewise, in contrast to the headmistress who had lifted the formula and ink off the page itself through aetherial manipulation to summon her Carbuncle, the young woman simply collapsed the aether into the page before she ripped it out and tossed it away. The discarded page itself served as a medium for the collected wind-aspected aether within the gemstone to flow into it, shredding it as the summoning spell manifested an Emerald Carbuncle tied into the gemstone through an invisible aetheric tether.

"..._ten this time_," he heard mutter beneath her breath before she caught him looking at her. She returned his curiosity with a glare. "Didn't anyone teach you its improper to stare at a lady?"

"Sorry about that." He held his hands up in an effort to placate her while the summoning looked around curiously, sniffing its surroundings. "I just found it fascinating. That's all. It's different from the school of magic I'm familiar with."

"Well don't go straining your pretty head about it. Arcanima creates higher functioning spells compared to the primitive magicks you Thaumaturges use. Making something like a Carbuncle isn't something you'll be capable of, so stick to lobbing fireballs and try not to get in my way."

She wasn't completely wrong. An Arcanist had to route their aether into the aetheric gemstone to form a foundation that could manifest in real-time, which meant they had to draft the shapes by hand and memory. In addition, the equations required taking in variable factors, like the current aether density, and interweaving more complex equations into the formulas that made up the Carbuncles allowed for more ways they could manifest their inherent properties taken from the gemstones. That naturally meant it required a higher level of skill and knowledge.

But that didn't mean thaumaturgy wasn't also a complex art. It was certainly more dangerous as, unlike with Arcanists, the Thaumaturges had to shift the balance of a portion of their own personal wellspring of aether and then use a suitable conductor to expel it—with certain metals, gems, and the bones of once living creatures being the best choices. But through careful manipulation of the Umbral and Astral states they could potentially keep casting with little need for rest.

He would have happily enlightened her to those facts, despite not being a Thaumaturge himself, if she'd given him the decency of allowing a rebuttal before she brushed him off with a '_hmph_' and followed the Yellowjackets to get closer to the bank. That left Cocobusi to sigh frustratedly before noticing that Emerald Carbuncle wasn't following her. It was instead milling about its surroundings, only to start moving once she was a certain distance away—the range of its invisible tether acting as the leash.

_I wonder if she has full control over it_, he thought to himself as he observed it. He wasn't fully aware of the mechanisms of the formula that integrated whatever allowed for control over the summoning, so he couldn't speak on it for certain. In the end, he ultimately forced it to the back of his mind as the Yellowjackets drew their axes.

As the culling of the Cane Toads began, they ended splitting into two groups. The Yellowjackets went closer to the mouth of the cavern from which the stream flowed, but the Arcanist stayed closer to the shore and path as she ordered her pet to attack one Cane Toad that was nearby, looking for vilekin to devour.

The arcane entity made as aggressive of a noise as it could before bounding forward a set number of steps. Then the ruby on its head shone and the air around the wavekin stirred into a violent whirl that caused its entire body to jostle. It fixed its gaze on the one who attacked it and, the moment Cocobusi blinked, the Carbuncle was already in front of it while covered in a thick layer of fluids.

It was the spell he had come looking for. The only thing left was to claim it for himself, so he focused on it and began the channeling process once more for the only spell that he knew. Blue crystals danced around him as he called upon the primal hunger that invoked Blood Drain and the Cane Toad's body rocked as bundles of aether were ripped from its aetheric channels.

The Arcanist followed up with her hand over a page, aglow with aether as she used the geometry written there to format the unaspected magicks into the shape of a dense sphere. She then extended the book out towards the Cane Toad and the sphere launched at a destructive speed, slamming into its body so hard that the bindings came undone. The rupturing blast dispersed into the air as fading wisps over the Cane Toad's corpse.

Cocobusi pulled out his Soul Crystal in the hopes that it'd had a reaction as the soul's aether burned its brightest upon being freed from the vessel through death. But there was nothing. _I suppose it was too much to hope that I'd get it the first time._

He shoved the crystal back into his pocket as the Carbuncle moved up the river and attacked a second Cane Toad. The Gust it called forth splashed the water as the cutting winds that buffered the wavekin stirred the attention of a third one as well, leaving it to lash out and snatch the Carbuncle once more. Pinned down and helpless, the second one threw its body against the entrapped arcane pet hard enough that cracks formed along its fur.

The Arcanist cast her Ruin spell towards the first one as it tensed its legs to do the same and shatter the Carbuncle entirely. The sphere flew towards it and slammed into the Cane Toad harder than the previous one had done, knocking it over to the side as it reeled from the impact of the hit. Cocobusi finished it off with a Blood Drain spell, tearing apart its aetheric channels and leaving it to collapse in the stream.

The third was swiftly dispatched as well in a similar manner and the novice Blue Mage let out a sigh, when a shrill shriek reached their ears and was followed by a strong wind that billowed their clothes. They turned to see a Cane Toad was knocked back by the Carbuncle releasing a blade of wind that slammed the wavekin, sending it right into a Rivertoad that happened to be perched away. It immediately turned hostile as its gaze locked onto them and it subsequently took a leaping bound to crush the Lalafell pair.

Cocobusi turned to run, only for the force of its landing to throw him forward and send him tumbling onto the ground. He shook his head to clear it of the dizziness before he turned to see the Arcanist flat on her back, groaning. Her Carbuncle was still attacking despite the fact that aether was leaking through the cracks in its form, its construct life slipping away even as it continued to fight.

_She's definitely struggling to control it._ He supposed that was one of the downsides to having a pseudo-sapient construct. It had could misbehave at the worst time possible.

He used a Potion to numb the pain before he retreated a safe distance, while she picked up her grimoire just as the Rivertoad finished slamming into the Emerald Carbuncle, the impact dissipating its form entirely. That was when a sickly green and purple substance erupted over its body and invaded it from the inside out. It was a Bio Spell, meant to kill it via accelerated entropy.

Dying from the inside out, the Rivertoad leapt towards her as Cocobusi began to cast the only spell he knew once more. She barely managed to get out of the way as it landed and then tried to take her into its mouth, instead getting a gullet full of grass and river soil. Then the Blood Drain spell finished, leaving it to collapse and go still as Cocobusi breathed out a heavy sigh of relief before he looked over towards her—

**_SPLOSH!_**

—only for a wet and sticky substance to blanket him before he was snapped off his feet and into the shallow water, where a Cane Toad had marked him as its prey the moment his back was turned.

Helplessly mired in the viscous secretions as it prepared to crush him, Cocobusi fought to get free with all his might and barely managed to pull himself away as it leapt up and came crashing back down with enough force that it would have crushed him. But the sheer force of the displacement of aether that it lined its underbelly with for protection sent him tumbling backwards until he hit a rock on the shoreline.

"_Owww_…" His moan of pain echoed the ache seeping into his bones and his vision swam. Moving hurt. Breathing hurt. But considering the Cane Toad was moving in to finish him off, he found it in him to at least use his cane to get back on his feet and focus on a final Blood Drain spell.

The wavekin threw itself into a ram that would break his bones before the spell could be completed, if not for the sphere of condensed aether slamming into it before rupturing. The Ruin spell that had flown from behind him intercepted the Cane Toad, repaying the ambush in kind and buying enough time for the novice Blue Mage to cast his own spell. Its body convulsed thrice before its legs collapsed under it, the cumulative damage too much for it to withstand.

And at last he felt the Soul Crystal quiver in his pocket.

Cocobusi would have celebrated if not for the pain in his body. The cane became a crutch as he slumped down to his knees in the water, his clothes soaked and heavy. It almost felt like he was going to pass out when a soothing sensation swaddled him. It felt like his body was repairing itself, damaged tissue and bone mending courtesy of a Physick spell.

He stood up straight and gave the approaching Lalafell a bow of the head in gratitude. "Thank you."

She only turned her head to the side and muttered, "_Just don't tell anyone about the Carbuncle and we'll call it even._"

There was a hint of shame in her tone. The kind he had when he often had to admit that he couldn't use magic like his brothers when asked by those who were unaware. The one exception to their family of arcane experts. The fact that she couldn't control her pet well was clearly a sensitive topic for her, so he bobbed his head in agreement. "Sure. My lips are sealed."

She huffed in acceptance and then pointed to the remainder of the Cane Toads. "Well then, let's get back to it. Every toad we leave for them to kill is one less gil for us. Come on now, hop to it."

**[-BGB-]**

Later that evening, Cocobusi was outside of the Zephyr gate once more. Though the experience of culling the population of Cane Toads proved more tedious and less rewarding that he expected in terms of monetary compensation, he did ultimately earn something far more valuable. Holding the Soul of a Blue Mage in his palm, his fingers wrapped around it tight as he attempted to attune to mindset needed to use Sticky Tongue.

What drove the Cane Toad to use this primitive form of aetherial manipulation? It was a primal means of obtaining prey that remained distant, meaning the desire was rooted in the need to…

_ENSNARE_.

The Soul Crystal began to pulsate within his grasp when that thought crossed his mind as he fixated on a Little Ladybug, the vilekin moving in erratic patterns. Attuned to the mind of the small breed of toad, such succulent prey left his mouth salivating as azure crystals began to swirl around him and draw in the ambient aether. He felt it pooling in his mouth, morphing into a viscous liquid that filled his cheeks until they were puffed out and he couldn't keep his lips closed anymore.

"**_Ptooh!_**" His lips were forced apart and the fluid came out like a nocked arrow being loosed. All the building pressure was released at once, lancing onto the unexpectant prey and then snapping back faster than the eye could track. The vilekin plopped down in front of him, writhing in agitation and confusion as it remained pinned by the thick, slimy fluid.

"_Das' oin ta ek ome getting used to_…" he muttered, tongue hanging out and saliva dripping down as it tried to wash away the taste of the so-called aetherial tongue. He doubted that it would be enough to impress his brothers, but it was still another spell in his arsenal.

Another step towards becoming a mage who could walk alongside of them.


	4. Spell 3: Bomb Toss

_To the nascent Blue Mage, one might be surprised to learn that it is possible to gain Blue Magic that allows one to aetherially replicate the functionality of mechanical devices. For example, take the explosives frequently favored by Goblins for the fiery punch they pack. Through the same means of acquisition used to obtain other spells, you can gain access to the ability to chuck similar explosives with the aptly named spell: __Bomb Toss._

_Now, it may seem strange that one of the Spoken races are capable of granting Blue Magic as monsters would upon death. But keep in mind that one's aether contains not only the force of one's life, but has the experiences and memories imprinted upon them. For Goblins, whom are often taught to create their preferred explosives through magically enhanced gunpowder at a young age, it would be nearly instinctive._

_Now, while Goblins can be found all over Eorzea, different tribes of Goblins use different methods. Those that attune best to the Soul Crystal are those commonly found in Middle La Noscea, though a particularly lawless cadre of goblins belonging to their tribe have been seen in the Twelveswood…_

**[-BGB-]**

"Ahhh!" Cocobusi shouted in alarm as he rushed towards a large, outcropped boulder. His tiny legs worked themselves at a frantic pace to reach the stout stone before he dove behind it. Then he huddled over and braced himself as a moment later the explosions rang out.

**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!**

The goblin explosives tore the ground on the other side of his cover apart with surprising force. Soil and burned grass pelted his hat as they rained down, blasted up by the concussive force hidden within the tiny bombs. He could feel his teeth rattling as he brushed it off while shooting a glance to other person taking shelter behind the boulder.

The Lalafell whose name he never did get was huddled over, clutching her Weathered Grimoire overhead to stop any pebbles from hitting her in the head. She felt the weight of his stare upon her and pouted. "This isn't my fault!"

"Never said it was." At least not out loud anyway. The job in itself was supposed to be simple. A group of Goblins had apparently robbed a merchant caravan and stolen a crate of cheeses that had been meant for the Culinarian Guild. But because her familiar jumped the gun their attempt to get back the crate without being caught went poorly, to say the least.

"You no take cheese!" the Goblin barked. "Cheese belong to Goblins! Not uppity uplanders."

"That cheese doesn't belong to you!" Cocobusi shouted back, peeking over the edge of the rock. Even though he said that, he could see that the three Goblins were still getting ready to cart their stolen goods away. He turned back to the Arcanist and spotted her drawing on the pages of her grimoire once more. "They're going to get away at this rate."

"Then do something!" She glared up from getting ready to summon her Carbuncle only for her eyes to go wide as she pointed behind him. "Look out!"

He whipped his head around to see that one of the Goblins was there, having broken from their group in order to try and stab him with a knife. Cocobusi immediately threw himself to the side as it stabbed at him, only for a Ruin spell to slam into the Goblin and knock it back. He followed up by reaching out with his Blood Drain spell and proceeded to rip the aether out of its body, leaving the Goblin to jerk violently and shudder.

But it didn't kill it. The Goblin instead gripped its knife tighter and attempted to slash with it, cutting into his arm and drawing blood as he drew back and instead whacked the Goblin with his cane as if it were a club. The Goblin's head whipped around before another Ruin spell burst against its body and it went still, knife flopping out of its hand.

Cocobusi sucked in a sharp breath at the wound. It stung but he could manage for now. So, he looked around to the other side of the boulder to see they were beginning to move with the stolen crate. "We have to go now, or we'll lose them."

"Done!" She shouted, ripping the page out of her Weathered Grimoire and using it to call forth her Carbuncle. "Go fetch the Goblins!"

It gave her a curious tilt of the head before looking off towards the fallen Goblin.

"The other ones," she clarified, pointing off towards the pair. It deigned to listen to her this time, making an aggressive squeak before it darted off. The Arcanist then turned to him and gestured for him to follow. "Come on!"

He broke from his cover as the Emerald Carbuncle drew upon the winds as it darted forward, squealing before it let fly a Backdraft that knocked one of the remaining two Goblins away from the crate and leaving the other to drop it. The Carbuncle then moved to attack, leaving the last one to glare at them through its mask as it pulled out another bomb.

"Not this time!" Cocobusi said as the azure diamonds encircled him. Aether gathered in his mouth until his cheeks were bulging, before he spat out an aetherial Sticky Tongue that latched onto the final Goblin and snapped him forward until he was pinned to the ground in front of Cocobusi, the adhesive fluids leaving him trapped…along with the bomb. "Gah!"

He turned to book it as far from the Goblin as he could—

**BOOM!**

—and barely made it out of the death radius of the explosion as the diminished force of it sent him sprawling into the dirt. He came to a tumbling stop, his small body left prone on the ground and a small moan of pain slipping out of his mouth. Along with a slight quiver in his pocket. "_I… did… it…_"

"If by that you mean nearly blow yourself up, you did an adequate job." The Arcanist's voice rang out from somewhere close-by. He barely managed to turn his head from the dirt to see her hovering over him with book outstretched, magic in the work. "Hold still."

He felt the broken skin and battered cells begin to rebuild themselves, his body mending and the pain dying. His strength returned, allowing him to get back up to his feet slowly. He dusted himself off, noting that his garments were in need of a mender, and then thanked her. "Thanks."

She turned her nose up to him. "It wouldn't look good if you got yourself killed on such a simple job. Speaking of which, what kind of disgusting spell was that? It reminded me an awful lot of those slimy toads we had to contend with."

"That's because it's a Blue Magic spell derived from them," he explained, pulling out the Soul Crystal to show her. "Unlike my brothers, I can't use thaumaturgy because I don't have enough anima to use spells from most of the other schools of magic. But I discovered that I can use Blue Magic to copy the spells of monsters, due to the fact that it costs so little of my own anima as long as I have a Soul Crystal."

She looked at the crystal with skeptical eyes as she processed the information. "That sounds like rubbish to me."

"I'll show you," he closed his eyes and tightened his fingers around the Soul Crystal. "Just now, I felt it quiver when that Goblin got caught in his own explosion. That should mean I can use the Bomb Toss spell once I attune it…"

What was the Goblin's reasoning for creating their bombs? It was a weapon, of course. One refined through experimentation and effort that spanned a vast swathe of time, a product born from their intellect. For those who carried every aspect of their lives on their backs, they needed a way to defend themselves from those that would take their precious treasures despite their lack of strength.

And so the Goblins turned to the crafting of explosives.

Even though he didn't know the composition, as that was a heavily guarded Goblin secret, he could imagine steady hands delicately mixing aetheric sand, fire crystals, and gunpowder into the perfect blend. It had to be done slowly, carefully, a bit at a time—oxidizer, fuel, binder, all packed into a small ball that would give way to a very big…

_BOOM._

The Soul Crystal began to pulsate within his grasp as the envisioned scenario resonated with the memories that were imbued within the aether traces that had been absorbed upon the Goblin's death. The azure crystals encircled him, spinning as they took aether from their surroundings and gave shape to that memory. It felt hot, a steadily growing heat pooling in his empty palm and being overlaid with a shell, until he finally felt a bomb was in his grasp.

"See!" He opened his eyes as he held it out to show her, only to see her backside as she ran away from the bomb replica… which had a steadily shrinking _lit_ fuse. Panic set in for a brief moment before he tossed it behind him and started booking it in the opposite direction.

Fortunately for him, he was actually out of the blast radius this time. He only ended up with a gracious amount of dirt and burnt grass pelting him as they rained down from the blast spout. "Whew… that was dangerous."

"That is an understatement!" She came back over, lips framed in a pout. "There's a reason using magic requires years of study. If any layman could simply use spells without proper guidance, they could easily hurt someone. Whoever gave you that Soul Crystal was so irresponsible that they ought to be arrested!"

"_That's a bit excessive_," he murmured. Though, he would admit that the book didn't note that the fuse would be actively lit. That was an oversight. "Anyway, thanks to that now I've got three spells that I can use, and we finished the quest. So, all's well that ends well, right?"

She only huffed. "I am going to inspect the cargo and make sure that it wasn't damaged. Then you can help me cart it back."

He watched as she went back to the crate while her carbuncle just curiously stayed behind and gave him an inquiring look. Then she let out a small yelp and began to sway on her feet. She attempted to stagger away from the crate before collapsing onto the ground, leaving the arcane entity to vanish as well.

"What's wrong?" Cocobusi moved to check on her before the scent wafting from the open crate hit him like a brick and he began to stagger as well. That when he noticed that wind crystals on the underside of the crate lid had been used to keep the odor contained within the crate, as what was inside was several blocks of hard-yellow cheese, threaded with blue-green mold. He fought against the nausea and held his breath, barely managing to get the top back on, before he slumped down against the crate as well.

Before the scent clinging to his nose could overwhelm his small mass as it did hers, he reached into his pouch and grabbed some liquid Smelling Salts. The scent of it was pungent and powerful as he popped the cork, but it was still better than what his nose had the horror of smelling just now. He soaked a cloth with it and tied it around his mouth and nose to eventually wash it away while the stimulant kept him alert.

Then he did the same for the unconscious Arcanist and they both carried the crate back to Limsa Lominsa.

The Bismarck would find few brave enough to try Goblin Cheese Cuisine in the future.


	5. Spell 4: Final Sting

_Among the spells that a Blue Mage can learn there are some that are more potent than others. Some would say they could surpass even Thaumaturgy in the sheer amount of raw destruction that they can unleash. However, such spells are usually reserved for the direst of circumstances, due to the fact that they draw upon the very aether that sustains one's life and thus leaves said caster incapacitated._

_One such spell happens to be what we will be outlining: __Final Sting__. _

_This spell works to convert the entirety of one's anima into a concentrated aetherial poison that is forcibly driven into a single target, inflicting a massive amount of damage. Even the most fearsome of foe can be felled should they find themselves on the receiving end of this spell, but the steep price and incapacitation that follows means that it should never be used except as an absolute last resort._

_While a number of vilekin of the Giant Hornet genus are capable of utilizing this lethal technique, the most feasible to obtain it from are located in the following region of Eorzea… _

**[-BGB-]**

Cocobusi had been mildly concerned about potentially learning the next spell that he could gain before his time in La Noscea came to an end. He may have been a fledgling adventurer as far as the others in the group he was traveling with were concerned, but he was first and foremost an Alchemist. He had obligations to the guild, and it was only because he'd taken an allowed leave of absence that he could pursue gaining his spells without consequence.

That being said, this spell appeared to be one of the more dangerous ones.

From what he could gather the spell worked by concentrating one's aether and anima until it reached a dangerous level of density, transmuting it into a potent poison, and then forcibly driving it into a target utilizing pressure from contracting the aetheric channels. He already knew that it was possible for individuals to weave aether into a poisonous substance, and that a sudden influx of a dense concentration of aether into one's body would cause a violent reaction. But he also knew that if what he was grasping was true, utilizing the spell would most likely leave him in a state that was similar as to what happened with Cocobuki if he used it—on the verge of death.

Having all the aetheric channels contracting at once due to the aether flowing through them being squeezed out would cause the body to go into shock nearly instantly. Even with a transfusion of aether or restorative magicks to get them back on their feet, the body would still take time to recuperate from the sudden shock. And that was for someone with the anima capacity to utilize such demanding spells like his brothers.

All the same, it was still a spell that he could learn—even if he had no immediate intention of using it.

That was why he'd traveled to Three-Malm Bend after he'd had more time to practice with his newest spell. He figured out both the range and casting time to prevent anymore mishaps, which proved wise considering there were a number of other adventurers who'd answered the calls of the Yellow Jackets this time for what seemed to be another seasonal culling. It was Giant Hornets this time.

Apparently there was a large number of vilekin because they built nests in the trees close to a checkpoint here. While they were normally only aggressive when you approached their hive, during this season some were known to grow so large that they could tower over a Hyur. And these "Kings" naturally sought to expand their hives while stirring up the local population of wespes into becoming much more aggressive, meaning that they had to be put down.

What incentivized the Adventurers was that the pay was much better due to the Culinarian Guild financing the reward, as in the aftermath they could harvest Honey from the hives with far less risk to themselves. Cocobusi saw it as the best opportunity to learn Final Sting, and so he'd prepared himself by using the last of his earnings from that cheese quest he took.

Of course, he couldn't really be prepared for the chaos that it rapidly devolved into as he observed how quickly trouble arose when several parties of adventurers vied for the same prize. The portion of La Noscea they were in was something of a habitat for more passive monsters, but with so many spells and attacks going off haphazardly, it shouldn't have been a surprise that stray shots would abound. And, once angered, the once-passive monsters had taken to the field resulting in a battle on multiple fronts.

In one such case earth shifted as it was rose from the ground, pooling together mid-air in front of a Conjurer's Maple Crook. The densely packed soil was bound together into Stone, its grinding weight sent flying towards the upraised claw of a Megalocrab. It hammered into the limb that was in the midst of preparing to crush a Marauder that was trapped within its other set of pincers, fruitlessly trying to hack away at the hardened, green carapace without solid leverage, and knocked its attack astray before it could cave in their skull.

But the beast only responded by spitting out a weave of thick bubbles in her direction that frothed and sizzled as it coated the grass. The acrid scent of the digestive fluids turned hasty weapon was quite poignant, leaving the Conjurer to wisely step back. But in doing so her partner was left trapped between the jagged teeth and crushing finger of the claw, soon to be torn in half once the weave of protective aether around his skin that seemed to act as a Bulwark faltered.

Seeing their plight as he had several others to this point, Cocobusi prioritized helping them and an aetherial replica of the goblin explosive found its way into his hand. Then he gave a shout of warning to the pair before chucking the palm-sized bomb. "Incoming!"

**BOOM! **

The moment the explosion blew off the rear legs of the giant crab and it collapsed to the ground, they didn't waste the chance. With a shout, the Marauder was suddenly wreathed in a bloom of aether that seemed to seethe from his skin as he began hacking away with his axe in a rage. The carapace covering the arm shattered with the single swing, cleaving through and severing the limb. Freed, he then proceeded bring the head of the heavy Cloud Axe down on its carapace over and over.

If the slashes before could chop wood, then the blows now would cleave through solid stone. The hard, chitin broke, green fragments and blood spraying as the axe struck the tender meat below. The wavekin let loose a shriek as it came out of its stagger and attempted to crush him with its remaining arm when another Stone slammed into it, finishing it off. Once the monster was dead, the Marauder fell to a knee and the Conjurer ran over to tend to the wounds he'd sustained.

_They should be fine now_, Cocobusi thought to himself before he caught a flicker of light-pink hair further out. It was the Arcanist he'd worked alongside a few times now, running after her Carbuncle as she attempted to participate in the hunt as well. He hoped the arcane construct wasn't being too difficult to manage, given things were already chaotic enough as it was. He was tempted to follow after her to make sure, but a brief flash of light in the corner of his eyes pulled his attention elsewhere.

Specifically, towards a trio consisting of a Miqo'te Pugilist, a Hyur Gladiator, and a Lalafell Thaumaturge in the midst of struggling with some of the very Killer Wespes that he'd come to slay for their spell. That Flash he'd seen earlier must've been a technique that gathered aether on the weapon and transmuted it into light to blind an enemy. Though from what Cocobusi had heard in passing the Gladiator's guild had stopped teaching it due to the fact that it could catch allies unaware as well.

The Pugilist, a young woman, was nursing a bleeding wound to her abdomen as she curled up on the ground. The Gladiator, a young man, was using his shield and sword to keep her safe as the Giant Hornets blindly attempted to sting him. As for the Thaumaturge, who looked to be somewhat older than the Blue Mage himself, he was currently being attacked by a Water Sprite.

Cocobusi suspected that they were all fresh from Ul'dah where, due to a shortage of those capable of restorative magicks compared to the other nations, a group of three would center their tactics around piling on a singular enemy and bringing them down quickly. Their original intention was probably to have the Thaumaturge use Sleep on the swarm and from there they would slay them one-by-one. But because of the Water Sprite had begun attacking the Thaumaturge, he couldn't properly focus on shifting the polarity of his inner anima and so now he was left fumbling with his traveling pack to pull out an Ether while under attack.

His brothers often complained about how neophyte Thaumaturges tended to improperly manage their capacity for destructive spells at inopportune times. Bearing witness to the sprite pooling water-aspected aether into a ball and launching the Water spell hard enough that it knocked the Lalafell off his feet, despite the fact that he tried to block it with his Square Maple Shield, showed exactly why. Either way, he had to act now lest the situation worsen.

The novice Blue Mage cast the Bomb Toss spell once more, flinging it towards the Water Sprite. For a moment he held some concern that the sprite, being a minor elemental of the opposing element on the aetheric wheel to fire, would be unharmed by the explosion. But the explosive force still managed to rattle the sprite, its form undulating around the crystal shard that it used for a heart.

"Hurry and drink your Ether!" Cocobusi told the neophyte Thaumaturge as he then ran closer to the other group to assist them as well, pulling out a Potion. Casting the explosive spell for a third time, he flung it overhead towards the swarm of Killer Wespes as the blindness wore off.

**BOOM!**

When the explosion dazed the Giant Hornets, leaving them stunned for a few precious moments, the Gladiator took the chance to start slashing away at them. The obsidian edges of his Ash Macuahuitl ripped through one in a spray of visceral fluid before finding the head of another and caving it in. But as the Pugilist spared a glance in his direction and she saw him running towards them with the Potion in hand, she shouted, "Watch out!"

He didn't get the meaning of the warning until he felt something hard and wet slam into his back, knocking Cocobusi off his feet and sending the Potion flying out of his grasp. Reunited with the sense of pain that he'd become a little too accustomed to since starting his adventuring career, he raised his head to see the cause of. The Water Sprite was drifting his way, having seemingly earned its enmity from the bombing.

He saw the next attack coming, a watery sphere being fired towards him like a cannonball. He barely rolled out of the way before it splashed down where he had been. Then he got back onto his feet and prepared himself for the next one when a bundle of frigid, ice-aspected aether from the umbral polarity hit the Water Sprite.

The Blizzard spell erupted into white ice and blue frost as it smashed into the watery mass. The cold began to subsume it as the Thaumaturge began another incantation and funneled his aether into Marbled Eye of the Copper Scepter that he wielded in his right hand. Not to be undone, Cocobusi dredged up the primal _HUNGER_ for aether that he used to activate his Soul Crystal and proceeded to rip the aether from the Water Sprite.

The elemental was little more than a mass of somewhat aware aether, so Blood Drain took from the whole and rid it of element before flowing into him as the creature strained to keep itself together until the throbbing sphere of fire that had pooled around the Thaumaturge's scepter was released. The moment the two elements met there was a violent burst of steam as the water that it had pooled together around the shard that was its heart evaporated. The Water Shard fell to the ground, the elemental's awareness scattered.

That left the real threats, the Killer Wespes that the Gladiator and Pugilist were fending off. The sharpened point of a stinger scraped against his Bronze Hoplon as he parried a thrust for his head before shrouding it in aether and slamming it into the vilekin. The resulting shockwave as it discharged left it dazed long enough for the Pugilist to deliver a Snap Punch that caused it to collapse to the ground lifelessly.

Next, the Gladiator raised his leg and drove a kick into the abdomen of another vilekin, which sent another burst of aether through its body and stunning it. That bought him enough time to spin around with his weapon, cutting it down while the rest of the vilekin that were attacking him backed away to avoid more than a glancing cut from the obsidian points of his weapon.

The novice Blue Mage and neophyte Thaumaturge began casting to further turn the tide, giving a shout of warning that didn't go unnoticed by the Pugilist. She called out to the Gladiator as incantations from one flowed freely from rote memory as while azure diamonds encircling the other created the aetherial construct of another goblin explosive. The Gladiator gathered aether onto the tip of his sword and released a blinding flash that robbed the compound eyes of their vision, before sprinting to get out of range as the Bomb Toss flew first.

**BOOM!**

The volatile construct of fire-aspected aether ruptured as it landed amidst the swarm, the explosion swallowing the giant hornets and stalling most of their wings from the shock. The Sleep spell from the Thaumaturge followed, robbing them of their consciousness. They laid on the ground in a deep, yet ephemeral slumber that was soon to be made permanent—with one exception, that was.

A single one escaped from the fringes of the blast, rushing out of the smoke as it sped towards the Thaumaturge in a frenzied haste, eager to claim his life. But the Gladiator sprinted to meet it midway and intercepted the point with his shield, guiding the killing thrust away as it scraped against the metal surface hard enough to scratch the surface deeply. The Pugilist followed up with another punch that was hard enough to knock it to the ground, whereupon the Gladiator stabbed it in the head.

Seeing they had that in hand as they turned their attention to the sleeping swarm to kill them off before they could wake, Cocobusi decided to keep moving to help where he could. Some of the adventurers were faring even worse than the two groups he'd thrown his lot in with so far. Those he attempted to buy time for so they could get away or supplied Potions to keep them alive, before they ended up amongst the dead.

"**EEK**!"

It was only after he finished dispatching another Water Sprite that had gotten too ambitious that the cry of a familiar voice reached his ears. It was the Arcanist he'd worked with before, pink hair and a fiery attitude. Only now she was in a pinch, clutching her grimoire to her chest and her Carbuncle missing while a trio of Killer Wespe fluttered towards her with lethal intention.

Acting quickly, Cocobusi focused on casting the Sticky Tongue spell and let loose the aetherial tongue. In the blink of an eye the Arcanist was crumpled on the ground in front of him while covered in the sticky, aetherially replicated toad saliva. A sound of disgust and frustration slipped out of her mouth as her gaze turned positively venomous when she noticed he was responsible.

He felt bad about getting her slimy, even though it'd dissipate soon enough. But he didn't have time to really focus on that since the Killer Wespes were still keen on attacking. They were headed towards the pair now, closing the 25 yalms between them rather quickly. "You can yell at me later, but first we need to deal with this!"

"My book ran out of pages!" She held up what was left of her grimoire. Sure enough there were only a handful of pages left that were inside, all of them filled with inscriptions and formulae for her other spells. Since she used the extra pages as a medium for calling out her arcane entity, that meant she couldn't summon anymore.

"Then get to safety!" he said before he ran forward to put distance between himself and her. She'd need time to get free and flee, and his options were limited as he mentally recounted his stock. _I have two sleeping potions left. Will they be enough?_

With little time to debate it, he tossed the bottles of Sleeping Potion towards a pair, leaving the glass to shatter on impact. The fluids within splashed over their exoskeletons and seeped in, leave them in a stupor as they drifted down to the ground. But the last one was closing in while preparing to jab at him with its stinger.

Out of other options, he focused on casting Bomb Toss once more and felt the anima pulled from deep within him forming the backbone of the spiraling diamonds as they siphoned and shaped ambient aether. Goblin explosive in hand yet again, he tossed it at the incoming monster right as it entered stabbing range.

**BOOM!**

The Blue Mage was knocked off his feet from the detonation being so close, bones shaking from the force of the explosion. But the vilekin swept up in the explosion took the worst of it, still on the ground and writhing about trying to get its wings working again. He found it in him to cast Energy Drain once before it managed to get up, ripping the aether out of its body violently before it retaliated by violently flailing about with its stinger.

There was a flash of pain and the sound of fabric tearing as a Sharp Sting caught his shoulder when he tried to parry the incoming stab. Blood seeped from the wound as he lashed out with the cane in his other hand, whacking it twice, only for it to retaliate by slamming into him reflexively. It managed to knock him onto his back while the cane flew from his grasp.

"_Oww…_" In pain, Cocobusi fumbled around for his cane for a moment only to see the stinger on its abdomen swaddled in a dense amount of aether. He realized that the wounded vilekin was getting ready to deliver the fatal sting right as it descended—

"**Fire!**"

—when a fireball slammed into the vilekin a moment before it could spear through his chest and deliver the venom into his heart. The flames swept away the burning husk of the Killer Wespe, smoldering bits and pieces raining down all around Cocobusi. He'd barely felt the minor shake in his pocket over the pounding in his chest as the Thaumaturge from before came over, scepter in one hand with smoke wafting off it.

"That was a close one," he said, extending the other towards the downed Lalafell. "Can you stand?"

Cocobusi nodded and accepted the help getting up. "Thank you."

"Think nothing of it," the Thaumaturge said. "It would be ill of us if we left you to die while in aid of another, after benefiting from such ourselves."

"Leaving a debt as such unchecked would catch up to us in Thal's Halls when we got there," the Gladiator from before said, now on his way over with the Pugilist. Their weapons were covered in fresh viscera, the sleeping pair of Killer Wespe slain as the one attacking him was blown to pieces. The immediate threat was over then.

"Not that we were in a rush to get there anytime soon," the Pugilist quickly added, while bringing her hands together in gratitude. "Thanks for the Potion earlier, by the way. Though it looks like you could use one yourself now."

She wasn't wrong. The bleeding wound he had was still running, and he felt his bones aching from the proximity to his own explosion. "I used up all of my Potions helping others today, but they'll mend in time."

"A fool's logic." The sharp barb was followed by a familiar sensation washing over him. It was the soothing sense of his body mending through the workings of a Physick spell. He turned to see that the Arcanist was once more casting her healing magicks on him with an annoyed expression. "You are lucky that I am feeling generous in spite of what you did to me."

He supposed she was still upset about covering her in slime. But the fact that she still saw fit to tend to his wounds left him grateful. "Thank you."

"_Hmph._" The Arcanist huffed as she turned away from him. "If you have to keep butting in, at least do it properly. There's no point in playing the hero if you're going to end up getting killed yourself."

And with that said, she proceeded to walk off towards the direction of the Yellow Jackets. It seemed that the King Wespes had been successfully culled while they were preoccupied. All that was left was to help the wounded back to the city-state and collect their compensation for participation.

"We didn't manage to get any of the juicy targets, so I doubt we'll get much for all the trouble we went through," the Pugilist said bitterly, ears and tail drooping. "I wanted enough to at least try one of the meals I've heard about at the Bismark."

"As far as I'm concerned, so long as we get enough to fill the belly and a few pints that should be enough," the Gladiator replied with a shrug of the shoulders. "Anything is better than the days of eating thrown-out scraps just to stop our bellies from aching."

"I didn't need the reminder," she said, ears and tail rising in agitation. "The whole point in us becoming adventurers was to get away from all of that. That's why we should keep trying something new every step of the way—right up until we make it big."

"You two can debate on suitable cuisine with whatever our finances _after_ we have replenished our supplies and repaired our equipment," the Thaumaturge stated firmly, giving the impression that he'd had to do so beforehand a number of times. He then looked towards Cocobusi. "Once more, we thank you for your assistance. But do be a bit more careful in the future, yes?"

"Take care," the Pugilist said with a cheery wave while the Gladiator gave him a nod. Then the three of them set off.

_What a peculiar bunch they were, _Cocobusi mused. From what he could gather the Hyur and Miqo'te were likely orphans or inhabitants of the slums prior to becoming adventurers. But the Lalafell seemed almost scholarly. How they'd met and formed a party was beyond him to grasp, but adventurers came in all sorts and from all different lots in life._ I suppose I'm not exactly one in a position to judge either._

Besides, he really did owe them his gratitude. They'd helped him in more ways than one, given the sensation he'd felt when the mage had killed the Killer Wespe attacking him. He'd gotten his fourth spell thanks to that, all that concentrated aether being violently released in such proximity practically guaranteeing it.

_Shame I can't actually use it, _he thought to himself while brushing his hand over his pocket where the Soul Crystal was nestled. He would still meditate on it when he returned to his room, as he did the other spells, but chances were he'd never use it. The risk was simply too great for him to consider it under normal circumstances, especially with his low anima levels at the moment.

Still, even if it was a close call, he'd helped some others and earned a new spell.

That was good enough for the moment.


	6. Role Action: Addle

The day after dealing with the King Wespes, Cocobusi returned to the Drowning Wench. Not for the ale or food, but because there was an Independent Arms Mender. His outfit had gotten quite torn from the constant battles, and his cane battered up from his use of it as a blunt instrument.

"I'm honestly surprised the fabric 'eld out this long," said a Hyur woman named Leofrun as she inspected them. "I'll repair it for ye at a low cost since the materials are little better than those used to make a 'empen 'alfrobe set. But, considering the nature o' your business, you'd be well off purchasing more durable armor for yer adventures."

"I suppose you might be right," the neophyte Blue Mage conceded. The soul crystal did the majority of the work when it came to casting his spells, but the cane itself was useful in its own way. It didn't need to be replaced at all, in theory.

But the clothing was a different story, given that through the use of crystals and other techniques it was entirely possible for them to be more durable than steel, provided they were properly attuned to the wielder. What he had now wasn't good enough for future endeavors. "What would you recommend then?"

"A visit to 'awker's alley," she said. "Old Iron Thunder will set you up with a proper attire, if it suits yer fancy."

Heeding her advice, he left the Drowning Wench through the nearby lift, dropping him down into the Bulwark Hall that led to the Octant. The area around the massive aetheryte in the center of the plaza happened to be crowded with adventurers of all shapes and sizes, chattering and such. For some reason the number of adventurers in Limsa seemed so much larger than the number in Ul'dah. He could only presume it was because the sea afforded access to lands beyond the horizon as he ventured past them through the lower level of the city-state towards—Hawker's Alley.

There he found the merchant that the mender had mentioned, who just so happened to have reasonable articles of clothing in stock that would be more suited to him. He ended up purchasing a Hempen Cloak, along with a set of Leather Ringbands, a Hempen Sash with matching Gaskins and Leather Boots. He even ended up being roped into talking to a nearby Jeweler and purchasing a Copper Wristlet and Bone Necklace to go with them, claiming they would be an improvement over what he had before.

And they weren't wrong.

Cocobusi didn't understand a lot of how Weavercraft and Goldsmithing worked, his trade was Alchemy after all, but he could _feel_ the difference. He felt just a bit more protected. A little bit more clear of mind. It probably wasn't too much better than what he had before but, considering how dangerous his search for spells had been so far, he should at least take the time to improve his chances of survival.

_I may as well get the color dyed while I'm at it_, he couldn't help but think as he took all his newly purchased equipment with him towards the West Alley. There was apparently an individual known as Unsynrael the Dyemonger, who kept blue dye in stock. Though it wasn't strictly necessary, Cocobusi felt that somehow his identity was tied to the color of the school of magic he found an affinity with, so he at least wanted the clothing he wore to carry that on as he upgraded his equipment.

It was when he passed through the small plaza that separated the East and West Alleys that he spotted the familiar bed of pink hair. The Plainsfolk Lalafell who he'd been partnered with more often than not was standing on a small stool in front of one of the stands, allowing her to reach the countertop as she had what was seemingly a heated conversation with a very large Sea Wolf Roegadyn.

Between the hustle and bustle of the foot traffic, he couldn't make out what they were saying from a distance. But once he got closer it seemed like she was trying to negotiate a deal with him. Though, once he got close enough, they noticed him and the conversation stalled.

"What are you doing here?" the Arcanist asked. "Eavesdropping now?"

"I'm sorry," he said. "I just happened to hear your voice on my way to the dyemonger and wanted to ask what was going on."

"My grimoire needs to be replaced," she explained somewhat curtly. "Yesterday's events burned though all my pages, and the wear and tear on it have gotten to the point where simply binding new pages to it won't suffice. But the merchant here won't give me a suitable deal and I won' t be able to afford new garments if I do buy it."

"If I gave you a discount when I haven't others, it would be a disservice to the other adventurers who come to me," he said in a somewhat exasperated tone. "More so if word gets around. I can't risk my business because you want to scrimp by."

"Well, it would be unfair if he simply gave you a discount and word got around," Cocobusi admitted, causing the Roe to nod in approval while the Lalafell scowled. To assuage her temper, he quickly added, "But I can make you one if you'd like—as a thank-you for your help until now. That way you can focus on getting more durable clothing."

She didn't keep the skepticism out of her voice. "You? Make one?"

"I'm an Alchemist by trade," he explained. "In fact, the entire reason I originally came here was to deliver a new grimoire I made for the acting guild mistress. Blue magic was something I happened to stumble upon, but it seems like the one who was selling the soul crystals is gone now."

"Considering your so-called method of acquiring spells, I imagine he was either run out of town or thrown in a cell by the Yellowjackets. Still, if you say that you can do so, I shan't refuse your offer to make me a Maple Picatrix then—the best you possibly can, in fact."

He mulled it over, recalling what would be needed to make one. "I believe I have the necessary crystals in my room at the Mizzenmast Inn to work with, and I spotted a merchant in the East Alley with the lumber and log and yarn I need as well to make it. The biggest issue will be procuring the Enchanted Copper Ink. It requires Copper Sand to properly make, along with Beastkin Blood. If we were in Ul'dah, I could procure it from the Guild Supplier, but I don't believe I've seen it sold here."

"You're scant out of luck there," Faezghim said. "Such products are so narrow in use that most merchants won't keep it in stock. Suppliers would rather sell to guilds for something like that."

"I suspected as much…" He brought his hand to his chin in thought until something came to mind. "Oh! But I could extract it from the Weathered Grimoire you had through desynthesis, if you'd be willing to part with it."

She tilted her head at that. "De…synthesis?"

"Ah, I suppose it isn't common knowledge unless you're a Disciple of the Hand. Basically, it's a technique created by a well-renown Goblin with his own workshop in Thanalan. It allows us to break down things into the parts that make them up and sometimes the crystalized spiritbond energies of the crafter if they were really talented will manifest. Those are pretty rare though."

The Arcanist just stared at him in silence as he finished, at a loss for words.

Faezghim sighed. "In short, he takes your old grimoire and breaks it down to get you the ink needed to make your new grimoire."

"I-I understood that," she claimed. "Still, is this ink really that important?"

Cocobusi nodded. "Yes, the ink acts as a really good conduit for aether. Not the best, but it does make it easier for those who are getting a feel for the flow of their magicks. Because of that, it's actually integrated into the construction of the entire grimoire through when we use crystals to work the materials. So if I desynthesize your old grimoire, I can obtain enough ink to make your new one."

She seemed almost hesitant, contemplating the offer silently for a moment. But she ultimately consented with a nod. "You aren't the type to lie from what I've seen so far. And you have been somewhat helpful since we have worked together, so I am willing to entrust that you know what you are doing so long as I may watch."

"That's fine, though it won't be very interesting," he said. "Just let me take my clothes to the Dyemonger and then I will go purchase necessary materials. After that I'll take the lift back up to the Drowning Wench."

"It'd be faster to take the Aethernet Shard network given the amount of people," the Arcanist pointed out. The foot traffic made it fairly easy for the smaller folk to have trouble getting around in the middle of the day.

"I haven't attuned to any of them," he said.

This time she sighed. "Even if you weren't planning to stay long, its common practice for Adventurers to attune to every single one they can find. Next you'll tell me you haven't even attuned to the main Aetheryte."

He looked away at that.

"Oh, for Twelve's sake. You really are new at this, aren't you?" She huffed before grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him along towards the Octant. "Going out into the field without attuning to the local Aetheryte is practically suicide."

"It's not that I don't know that. It's just that I don't have the anima capacity to attune to them!"

"If you lacked the ability to attune then you wouldn't have been able to cast those spells of yours," the Arcanist replied, pulling the neophyte Blue Mage as close to the hovering crystal as possible before sticking his hand out. "Now, focus on the crystal. Feel the energy coming off it and then feel yourself becoming one with it."

He was hesitant to do so. But the entire reason for him testing Blue Magic was to see if it could improve his anima capacity to an extent. The surest way to see if it was working would be if he was finally able to attune to one of the Aetherytes.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and focused on the crystal in front of him. There was a sensation in the air that seemed to pulse surrounding the crystal. Like a heartbeat. He reached out to it, matching his breath to the beat until he felt his body begin to thrum to it. The sensation grew faster and deeper until it felt almost like he was a part of it, hovering above a fast-moving current that surged just beneath the surface.

If he wanted to, he could just fall into it and… _vanish_…

His eyes snapped open before he followed that train of thought. Looking down at his outstretched hand, he said, "I think I felt a pull just now."

"Then it was a success," the Arcanist noted. "Aetherytes act as a beacon for traversing the Lifestream—"

"I did it!" He jumped up for joy and then embraced her. "I can finally attune to Aethertyes!"

Flustered, the Arcanist stumbled across her words until she finally demanded, "L-Let go of me already!"

Belatedly realizing he was invading her personal space, Cocobusi did so in a hurry. "Oh, I-I'm sorry. I was just so excited."

She huffed. "As I was saying, consider this a sort of a lighthouse on the aetherial current of the Lifestream since your body's aether now resonates with its frequency. If you have the fortitude to withstand such travel in the future, you'll be able to focus on the frequency of it and your body will naturally be drawn to it from the great flow. In other words, Teleportation will become available to you."

"That'll be amazing," he said, picturing himself blinking from one city-state to another in only a few moments. "I could travel all over Eorzea like that, couldn't I?"

"Before getting any funny ideals in your head, I'd suggest getting a feel for how taxing it is before you try to go too far and end up taking a permanent swim in the Lifestream," she warned him. "Regardless, let us hurry and get the materials you need. I expect that grimoire to be the absolute best I have laid my eyes on as compensation for having to explain all of this."

"Sure thing," he told her with a blooming smile on his face. "I'll make you the best Maple Picatrix possible."

True to his words, once he left his new garments to the Dyemonger to be painted a proper shade of blue and bought the materials, he took her back to his room where he had his tools. Even while traveling a Disciple of the Hand would carry the tools they needed, no different than an Adventurer would carry their weapons or foci. While minimal, the ability to manipulate aether allowed the usage of what would be considered techniques that could be used in the process of crafting.

"I can see you really did put in a lot of practice with this," he said while turning her Weathered Grimoire in his grasp., before nodding to himself and then proceeding to hold it with both hands as he began threading his own aether through it. "The spiritbond you have with it is perfect."

"What do you mean?" she asked from her perch in the chair that was in his room.

"Basically, you've used it so much that part of your own spirit has flowed into it," he explained as he began to tug on that bond. Aether was the source of many mysteries, including the crystallization of experience. By gathering up that residual bond and forcing his own aether to compact it, it began to take on a solid shape until there was a bright flash. "Done!"

It was a blue sphere that was a bit rough around the edges, somewhat unrefined but it still had a radiance within it. He turned it over in his palms before brushing it against his sleeve and then handing it to her. "Here you go."

"This is… a Materia, isn't it?" she asked. "Some of the more accomplished Arcanist have them in their grimoire."

He nodded. "Most people don't know it, but Materia are essentially the crystalized essence of certain attributes found in the bond between oneself and their equipment. In other words, it's proof that you've been trying hard with perfecting your craft and were attached to that grimoire. Since I have to destroy it to make you a new one, I figured I should at least crystalize that bond so that you'll have something to remember it by."

The Arcanist slowly reached out for it before taking it into her grasp. Her dark eyes softened as she looked down to it and she found herself perplexed before looking back up to the Alchemist as he prepared an empty bottle to gather the ink before he began the desynthesis process. Taking a deep breath, she asked a single question:

"Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Hm?" He looked up at that and tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"I am aware of how I come across to other people and how demanding I can be," she explained. "And I know I have trouble controlling my Carbuncle, and that has endangered us both. Yet, you have done nothing but assist me since we've been acquainted. Why is it?"

"Oh… that's because I understand you're trying your hardest," he said. "I get that it can be frustrating when you start with something and seem to hit a wall. It was the same for me when I started out as an Alchemist. During times like that you need someone to offer you a helping hand, so I did."

It was the same when he started out. His brothers supported him even though he couldn't join them in thaumaturgy because of his deficiency. Even though his reasoning was to find a way to increase his aptitude through the alchemy, he still wouldn't have made it that far without help.

"And besides, it's not like you didn't help me," he continued. "I probably wouldn't have been able to learn as much as I had if not for you helping me. So just consider this all my gratitude for everything before I return to Ul'dah and proof that I believe eventually you'll be able to master your Carbuncle."

That said, he proceeded to continue with the process. She watched as the Weathered Grimoire that she had been given starting out as an Arcanist disappeared, broken down while leaving behind only the ink. Then she lost track of time as he took the materials and shaped them using the crystals, fusing them together through synthesis until the new Maple Picatrix was done. "Finished!"

Her pink hair shifted as she handled it with stunned silence upon brushing her fingers against the surface. Sending her aether through it was smooth and fluid, leaving her to acknowledge it was probably one of the highest quality grimoire she'd handled in her life. "I… can't accept this without giving you something else in return."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because it wouldn't be right," she insisted, tapping her head in thought as she tried to decide on what she could do for him. "Uh… oh, you don't have a formal mentor when it comes to your magical studies, correct?"

"I suppose not," Cocobusi said. "The spellbook gives me the basic understanding and method of acquiring the spells, and the soul crystal does most of the work."

"Then, at the very least, I can share with you a standardized technique passed along to students of offensive magic," she said. "It isn't something that would require arcanima learning, but a relatively simple technique to use aether to hamper one's ability to focus their spells and weaken their concentration—to Addle them, effectively."

"I think I've heard my brothers mention something like that," Cocobusi said. "I didn't think that it'd be one of the standardized techniques, but if you're willing to teach me I'd be happy to learn it."

"Then let's begin since you don't have much time before you depart." She hopped out of her chair and offered him her hand. "Also, I don't believe we've been formally introduced to one another in spite of working together so often. I am Litata Lita."

"That's a nice name," he said, extending his own hand. "I'm Cocobusi. Cocobusi Lolobusi."

The two shook hands before her lecture began…


End file.
